The 5G inter-network roaming trial will be launched in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region
Telecom operators in China said they will jointly launch what they claim to be the world’s first commercial 5G inter-network roaming service trial.
According to local press reports, the trial will be launched in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
The Chinese carriers explained that the service enables users to access other telecom operators’ 5G networks and continue using 5G services when their service provider does not have 5G network coverage in a specific area.
In related news, Zhang Yunming, vice minister of industry and information technology , said that China will promote the large-scale application of 5G and the industrial internet, while also announced that the country will also focus on future technologies such as 6G, quantum information and “brain-like” intelligence.
“We will deepen the integration of 5G and the industrial internet to support the development of high-end, intelligent and green manufacturing industry,” Zhang said.
China ended the first quarter of the year with a total of 2.64 million base stations nationwide, local press reported, citing Zhao Zhiguo, a spokesperson at the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The Chinese government recently predicted the number of 5G base stations in China will hit 2.9 million at the end of 2024.
According to a recent GSMA report, dubbed “The Mobile Economy China 2023”, 5G technology will add $290 billion to the Chinese economy in 2030, with benefits spread across industries.
5G will overtake 4G in 2024 to become the dominant mobile technology in China, according to the report. “4G and 5G dominance in China means legacy networks are now being phased out. While most users have been migrated to 4G and 5G, legacy networks continue to support various IoT services. However, some estimates suggest that legacy networks could be almost entirely shut down in China by 2025,” the study reads.
Chinese operators recorded a net gain of 59.17 million 5G subscribers in March, according to the operators’ latest available statistics. China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, added a total of 50.1 million 5G subscribers during March. The carrier said it ended last month with 689.2 million 5G subscribers. China Mobile added a total of 227.2 million subscribers in the 5G segment during 2022.
